Archive for May, 2017

It was apparent the game plan for former welterweight champion Kell Brook was contingent on Errol Spence either fading from fatigue in the latter rounds or to be overcome with the enormity of the moment and collapsing under the pressure.

Not only did Spence throw a Monkey Wrench into those ill-conceived plans but he took the champions belt and snatched the hearts of Brooks hometown Sheffield, Yorkshire crowd along the way.

With his victory Errol Spence Jr. exemplified everything a polished number one contender from the United States stands for. He went to the Champion’s backyard and without the pomp and circumstance that a good number of his like promoted peers perceive they deserve, Spence proved inside and outside the ring he is more than worthy to be called a champion today.

In a fight that looked to be clearly going the way of the champion Brook in the early stages Spence remained focused and calm. Not once did the raucous crowd nor the talented Champion deter him. Spence stayed the course and by the 7th round his diligence began to pay dividends and Brook faded fast down the stretch.

No discredit to Brook who apparently was working with another broken orbital bone in the final rounds. Down in round 10 Brook rose to his feet and fought through the pain to make this one of the most memorable rounds of the year.

But in the next round the pain was too much. With double vision and memories of the GGG injury fresh on his mind he had no choice but to take a knee. The night was over and so was his title reign.

I do not want to hear one word about the courage of Brook. He did everything he could but Spence proved he is the superior fighter.

Now that Spence has that 147 strap we can look for him to target Keith Thurman. Thurman has made more than his share of derogatory comments about Spence. Now it’s time for that to get sorted out.

Personally, I am concerned about Brook. In his last two fights he has suffered the same injury to both sides of his face. Now there are rumors of him moving up to 154 pounds and the bigger punchers. Quite frankly I think Brook could hold his own and most likely defeat many of the top fighters in that division. But if the orbital bone injuries plague him you must ask yourself if it’s worth the risk.

Boxing fans were once again treated to a very entertaining fight that lived up to the hype.

At the midway point of 2017 it’s safe to say boxing is having a very good year.

As has become customary, our faithful reader David McGarry has thoughts on the big fights from across the pond. I must admit McGarry has a firm handle on the event from Sheffield. Check out what he has to say:

Dear Mr. Trillo,

Later today there are two world title fights taking place in Sheffield, England. Super middleweight George Groves has his fourth attempt at winning a world title when he takes on Fedor Chudinov and IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook defends his title against mandatory challenger Errol Spence.

For Groves, this is almost certainly his last shot at the big time, and he could not have asked for a more suitable opponent. Chudinov is an aggressive fighter with limited skills, inactive since February 2016, who lost a controversial decision to Felix Sturm in his previous bout. The London-born Groves should find it fairly straight forward to counter Chudinov’s advances with straight right power punches.

The main obstacle to an easy night for Groves is a possible reaction to his previous fight last November. He beat Eduard Gutknecht by a wide points margin, but his opponent collapsed and went into a coma a few hours later and has still not recovered. Boxers who win fights like that often never fully recover from the trauma, so it remains to be seen how Groves will cope.

My prediction: Groves wins a points decision by a wide margin, but fails to finish off a completely outclassed opponent.

The main event features, arguably, the best two welterweights in the world. For the champion, the main issues are how will he react to his first ever loss, how will he adjust to going from middleweight to welterweight again and how will his broken eye socket hold up against a hard puncher.

We do know Brook took the weight off slowly, and was only a few pounds over the limit three weeks ago. He looks in great shape. Will he have the same stamina and punching power as before?

For the challenger, we have yet to see how he performs against a world class opponent and how he handles fighting thousands of miles from home in front of a hostile crowd.

My prediction: while this is a genuine 50-50 contest in terms of trying to pick a winner, I don’t expect a close fought bout. After an initial feeling out period, one of these boxers is going to dominate the other completely en route to a stoppage around the fourth or fifth round. Could the body attack of Spence halt a weight-drained champion in his tracks? Or will Brook take advantage of his opponent’s lack of head movement to deliver some crushing right hand blows? My gut feeling is that because Brook chose his opponent and the venue and trained for 20 weeks to prepare for this fight at the stadium of the football team he supports, he will seize his chances.

The pick of the undercard fights could be a brief outing for big cruiserweight Lawrence Okolie. He will be making a name for himself in the heavyweight division before too long.

I was feeling adventurous today and thought it was about time to send out some feelers to attempt to get the inside track on the destination of the now signed middleweight super fight between Gennady Golovkin & Saul Alvarez. You might know them better as GGG & Canelo.

What I found out was that the respective promoters, that being Golden Boy and K2, have an agreement that nothing will be revealed until a decision on the site is finalized.

Indeed, I was probably as likely to pull hard cash out of these free-to-play slot games I’ve been playing than find that information anytime soon.

It just wasn’t happening.

But if you are looking for my two cents to drop into your penny slot machine I will tell you where I think the fight should take place.

If you are paying attention you should know exactly where I think the fight should go down.

That’s right Rocket Scientists…. Las Vegas, the boxing capital of the world!

My reasoning is simple and has nothing to do with site fees, PPV revenue and/or arena seating capacity.

If my memory serves me correctly it was inside the ring at The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that Canelo has twice now ungraciously verbally slapped GGG across the face.

You might remember in 2016 after defeating Amir Khan Canelo ran his now infamous, “mamadas” smack. It went something like, “We are Mexican’s, we don’t F**k around.”

You also may recall Canelo threw his 160 pound belt in the garbage days later which essentially put the kibosh on the title unifier at the time.

Fast forward one year and we find Canelo and GGG standing in the same ring to announce the Super Fight was signed sealed and delivered. When Max Kellerman asked the fighters if they had anything to say to each other Golovkin wished Canelo good luck. The retort from Canelo lacked one ounce of humility or dignity. Canelo responded, “Luck is for mediocre people!”

My hope is that Golovkin and Canelo will be standing in that same Las Vegas ring in September. It will be the perfect place for GGG to have his own answers for the mamadas and mediocre bombs dropped on him by Canelo over the last year.

My educated guess is Golovkin will have some bombs to drop of his own.

Did you see the report that quotes WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder’s manager saying they want to unify the division by fighting WBO Champ Joseph Parker next?

Allow me to cut to the chase.

As soon as Wilder saw WBA and IBF Champ Anthony Joshua TKO former unified Champion Wladimir Klitschko in the best 11 rounds of boxing seen in the heavyweight division in quite some time..well…Deontay made a B-line for the land down under. He literally went to the furthest corner of the world to duck Joshua.

There is nothing more that needs to be said. The challenge speaks for itself.

The best thing that happened to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Saturday night was the announcement that Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is officially signed and set for September 16th. If not for that, Chavez Jr. would have been sliced up like a Carne Asada at a Mexican Delicatessen.

When the lone highlight of your weekend is the fact that you finally made the contracted weight after years of failed attempts you can go ahead and assume you suck, as does your entire career.

Max Kellerman hit the nail on the head on the HBO PPV when he suggested that this performance by Chavez Jr. proved he had perpetrated fraud on the boxing public during his entire career.

As far as Canelo vs. GGG, I must admit I did not see this one coming so quickly. Kudos to both Golden Boy and K2 Promotions for nailing this one down. It’s certainly something fight fans deserve.

The thinking was that Golden Boy would wait until GGG was a little longer in the tooth before they allowed Canelo to get in the ring with him but this move shows Golden Boy believes their Golden Egg laying goose is ready for the challenge at hand.

Coming off a fight where he did not stop his opponent Danny Jacobs but instead was stretched to the 12 round limit there are some who think Golovkin peaked and now is starting on the dowside of his career. I for one am not one of those skeptics. Jacobs is a big and talented fighter who got himself ready to take Golovkin to the limit. And yes it’s true he gave it a good shot, but no one can say they believe he beat GGG.

For Canelo, you can’t take away what he did and how he looked on Saturday night just because Chavez Jr. was afraid to exchange. Alvarez was sharp, accurate and strong and we can expect he will be just as ready in September. In fact he will be more than ready.

The biggest question now is where is this fight going to take place?

I’m told the T-Mobile in Las Vegas is already on hold but that doesn’t mean places like Texas and New York or even London are out of the running. This fight is going to be huge and I am sure Golden Boy is ready to listen to all bidders.

It’s been a while since I got to visit my old haunt on my drive to Las Vegas but with the big show ahead I knew it was time to pay a visit to my old friend Elvis to get his thoughts on the upcoming battle.

For the cost of just two bits Elvis simply stated, ” It’s best to keep your mouth shut than end up looking like a fool. Always let your actions do your talking for you.”

Fair enough.

We know there has been a lot of talk prior to the big Mexican showdown, I for one have to stand corrected. I stated numerous times that there would be no way Chavez Jr. would make the weight and would be fined 1 million dollars per pound for every pound he came in overweight. Where was Elvis when I needed him?

Chavez Jr. let his actions do the talking at the weigh-in as he came in a half pound under the contracted weight. So much for my theory.

The question now is whether or not Chavez drained himself too much to make a decent showing or if it’s all part of an elaborate plan. If he comes in tonight close to 180 pounds and has regained his strength it could be a long night for the Red Head.

Only time will tell.

But if Junior depleted himself far beyond his limits we should see Canelo dispatch his countrymen in the mid rounds of this anticipated attraction.

I look for a good fight while it lasts and I now can say beyond a shadow of a doubt…anything can happen.

I realize that’s a far cry from a solid prediction but you will have to decide for yourself which Mexican will gain bragging rights tonight.